Hera Argeia (Earth-616)
Real name: Here (original spelling) Nicknames: No known nicknames Former aliases: Juno Other current aliases: No other known current aliases Status Occupation: Queen of Olympus, Goddess of women, marriage and fidelity Legal status: Citizen of Olympus Identity: The general populace of Earth is unaware of Hera's existence except as a mythological character. Marital status: Married Group affiliation: The Gods of Olympus Base of operations: Olympus Origin Hera is one of the Olympians. Place of birth: Samos Island Known relatives: Cronus (father), Rhea (mother), Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Japet, Oceanus, Ophion, (uncles), Mnemosyne, Tethys, Theia, Themis, Dione, Phoebe (aunts), Zeus (brother/husband), Pluto, Chiron (brothers), Demeter, Vesta (sisters), Ares, Hephaestus (sons), Hercules, Apollo, Hermes, Dionysus (step-sons), Bellona, Eileithyia, Hebe (daughters), Artemis, Athena, Aphrodite, Helen, Pandia, Persephone (step-daughters), Cupid, Deimos, Phobos (grandsons), Ouranus (grandfather), Gaea (grandmother), First appearance: Thor I #129 History Hera is the daughter of Cronus, god of earth, and his wife, Rhea. Cronus and Rhea were of a race of extra-dimensional race of beings known as the Titans, off-spring of the sky-god Ouranus and the primeval earth-goddess Gaea, who ruled most of Ancient Greece and were worshipped as gods by mortal man. (Ouranus and Cronus are not to be confused with the Eternals Uranos and Chronos, the latter of whom is also known as Kronos). Cronus overthrew his father's rule by fatally wounding him. The dying Ouranus prophesied that Cronus would likewise be overthrown by one of his own children. As a result, upon the birth of each of his children, Cronus had the child imprisoned in Tartarus, the most dismal section of the underworld known as Hades. The off-spring he sent there were Vesta, Pluto, Neptune, Hera and Demeter. (Later, legends erroneously claimed that Cronus had had actually swallowed his children and that they remained alive inside him until released by Zeus.) Appalled at the treatment of her children, Rhea conspired with Gaea to overthrow Cronus. Gaea instructed Rhea to conceal her next pregnancy from Cronus. Rhea's youngest son, Zeus, freed Hera and her siblings from Tartarus and lead the Cyclopes, Hecatocheiroi and a few Titans not loyal to Cronus against his father in a ten-year war to claim Olympus. Still a relatively young goddess, Hera was sheltered by the Titaness Tethys while Cronus and his allies fought Zeus. Cronus was eventually defeated and Zeus claimed Olympus for himself. Assuming his role as ruler of Olympus, Zeus courted Hera to be his next wife despite being married several times before. He soon managed to enchant her by stirring up a great thunderstorm and then taking the form of a distressed cuckoo weathered over by the storm. Hera took pity on the cuckoo and gave it shelter as Zeus revealed himself to him. At their wedding, Gaea gave Hera the Garden of the Hesperides to Hera as a gift. As wife of Zeus, Hera became queen of Olympus, and gave birth to the gods Ares and Hephaestus among several daughters named Eileithyia, Bellona and Hebe. Not wanting to be reminded of Zeus's other wives or having any other children to eclipse that of her sons, she exiled many of Zeus's other wives from Olympus. She drove Metis away to Libya where she was protected by Triton, son of Neptune, and sent a great serpent called Python to pursue Leto, mother of Apollo and Artemis. Maia conceived Hermes in a cave. Impersonating Beroe, the nurse of Theban princess Semele, Hera tricked Semele into having Zeus reveal his godly powers to her, an act that resulted in her demise. Most of Hera's hatred was levied upon Hercules, Zeus's son by Alcmene, a princess of Thebes in the Thirteenth Century. Despite her anger toward Hercules, Hera protected the Thessalian prince Jason who gathered the Argonauts in a quest for the Golden Fleece. When Hercules became a god, Hera tried to reconcile with him by offering her youngest daughter, Hebe, to him as a bride. Indirectly responsible for the Trojan War, Hera competed against Athena and Venus for a golden apple inscribed "To the Fairest" which was tossed by Discord at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. They decided to allow Zeus to resolve the matter of who best deserved the apple, but instead of getting involved, Zeus allowed the exiled Trojan prince Paris to make the decision. He granted the apple to Venus for the love of Helen, a Spartan princess, another daughter of Zeus. Angered, Hera and Athena supported the Greeks against Troy and enlisted Poseidon's help to imprison Zeus when he forbade them from manipulating the course of the war. Freed by Briareus, one of the Hecatocheiroi, Zeus punished Hera for her insolence by hanging her from Olympus by her wrists for a time. During the Roman Empire, Hera was worshipped under the name Juno. She tried to dissuade Zeus from allowing worship of the Olympian Gods to cease under an edict from the Third Host of the Celestials. Along with the queens of the other pantheons of earth, Hera looked for human beings that could pose as examples of the true potential of human beings. In 1919, she and Frigga, wife of Odin, chieftain of the Asgardian Gods, discovered Mark Cadmon living on the streets of Chicago, Illinois and saw his true untapped potential. They placed him among a group of other young adults who became known as the Young Gods, and when the Fourth Host of the Celestials occurred, Gaea produced the Young Gods to the Celestials as what the human race could attain if allowed to exist. The Celestials accepted the Young Gods as prime examples of humanity and departed earth taking the Young Gods with them. In reason years, Hera has continued to make as much trouble for Hercules as possible. She sided with the Avengers when Zeus held them accountable for the injuries Hercules sustained by the Masters of Evil, but she later posed as a mortal woman named Augustine Jones and challenged her son Ares to a contest to see who give Hercules the most sorrow. Zeus became aware of her sadistic game and once more confined her to Olympus. After the seeming destruction of the Asgardian gods, Hera then reached back into history to the days of Ancient Greece and restored to life King Eurystheus of Mycenae, who had sent Hercules on his original legendary Twelve Labors. Since the deaths of the Asgardians, Zeus had formed a mortal conglomerate on earth with the other Olympians in the roles of stockholders. Hera bequeathed that Hercules was becoming an embarrassment in the public eye so she formulated a new modern Twelve Labors for Hercules to go through expecting him to further embarrass himself with Eurystheus pulling the strings. Hercules, however, finished all the new labors and returned Eurystheus to death. Hera meanwhile distanced herself from these events and returned to Olympus on her own without any indication of her involvement. Characteristics Height: 5'10" Weight: 435 lbs Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde Unusual features: No unusual features Powers Powers: No known powers. Abilities: No known abilities. Strength level: Strength level unknown Miscellaneous Equipment: No known equipment. Transportation: No known transportation. Weapons: No known weapons. Notes * No special notes. Trivia * Recommended Readings * Related Articles * See Also * Character Gallery: * Fan-Art Gallery: * Appearances of * Quotations by External Links *''Hera at the Guide to the Mythological Universe'' References * ---- Category:Characters http://www.marveldatabase.com/wiki/index.php/Character_Gallery_Hera Character Gallery Hera ---- Category:Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Living Characters Category:Deities Category:Olympian Characters Category:Article Request